1Purposes

1 Purposes

The main purposes of this Act are—

(a) to provide for a person to execute in advance a directive that gives binding instructions or expresses the person's preferences and values in relation to the person's future medical treatment;

(b) to provide for the making of medical treatment decisions on behalf of persons who do not have decision-making capacity;

(c) to provide for a person to appoint—

(i) another person to make medical treatment decisions on behalf of the person when the person does not have decision-making capacity;

(ii) another person to support the person and represent the interests of the person in making medical treatment decisions;

(d) to provide for a process for obtaining approval and consent for medical research procedures to be administered to a person who does not have decision-making capacity;

(e) to repeal the Medical Treatment Act 1988;

S. 1(f) amended by No. 39/2022 s. 846.

(f) to amend the Mental Health and Wellbeing Act 2022 in relation to approval procedures for electroconvulsive treatment of adults who do not have capacity.